Serving the Community, One Project at a Time
The typical college student is obsessed with the latest designer clothes, newest tech gadgets, or hottest new band on the radio. Julia Collins is not your typical college student.
Julia, a junior information design major from Hartwell, SC, spends her free time at Winthrop University volunteering through a program called Close Scholars. In exchange for volunteering a specified number of hours every semester, she receives a scholarship towards her tuition. But this isn’t how she got involved in volunteering, in fact, she started serving her community from an early age before getting more involved during her junior year at West-Oak High School.
“I’ve always done it [community service] because my family is involved in non-profit organizations, like therapeutic wilderness camping.”
Since coming to Rock Hill, she has gotten to participate in numerous service projects throughout the community, but her primary service site is Family Promise downtown. This program is designed to help homeless families get back on their feet, but finding them with financing and budgeting for getting a home. They also help by providing a network of churches for the families to stay at while they save for their new home.
It’s obvious when talking with Julia that she really cares about the people she’s helping.
“I really have always enjoyed being involved with the community. I generally really have a heart for helping people.”
She doesn’t try to sugarcoat volunteering though. It can be hard to go serve strangers who don’t always appreciate what you’re doing for them, but in the end, Julia believes it’s worth the effort.
“[The people you’re serving] don’t necessarily need to know where you’re coming from, but they can still receive from you in various ways. It’s been something cool to be involved with, I really enjoy it.”
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